How do you get the engine and clutch to line up, and have the gear mesh correct.

The problem I see is the clutch assembly is adjustable in a horizontal plane, and the engine in a vertical one. The mainshaft bearing block have no adjustment at all.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get things lined up correctly, or is the gear mesh supposed to be very loose?

Thanks for your help.

For which model?

Sorry About that, X-Cell Gasser 1005-1

Never go an answer on this, anyone have any ideas?

Take the motor out of the equation to begin with.

Set the mesh of the clutch to maingear as it should be and with the clutch assembly running parallel to the mainshaft.

The design of the gasser gives you fewer options for shimming and the like than the glo powered models provide. What you can do is slightly enlarge/elongate the front holes in the frame to position the motor as needed. Leave the rear mounting brace alone until you get the motor in the right place. You can then go back and elongate the back holes in the aft direction if the motor needed to be shifted backwards or simple place some shim washers under the gold plate between that plate and the cylinder head if the motor ended up having to be shifted forward a little.

These ideas have been used by individuals in the past who have installed modified Hanson engines and needed to change gear ratios to provide optimum running rpm ont he motor.

Remember; if the fan won't line up squarely to the cluch face in the stock postion, the solution is NOT to try to tilt/pivot the engine fore or aft. You need to move the entire engine fore or aft in the purely horizontal plane to get in in squarely.

Does this help some?

Ben Minor

Hi Ben,

Thanks for the advice, however I was hoping to not have to modify the frames to resolve the problem. This being my first MA kit I was a little disapointed in this regard. Especially considering the heli is designed to work with this engine only.

There seems to be some slop in the clutch bearing block mounting slots, would it be ok to line the engine and clutch up, and then tilt the pinon?

Does MA offer any other solution that does not require the modification of the frames? The reason I ask is that I am not confident the bolt and washer alone will locate the engine.

Thanks

The clutch assembly/bell/pinion should be aligned parallel to the mainshaft. Tilting the bell/pinion assembly causes unequal distribution of load between the maingear and clutch pinion and can result in premature gear wear. The clutch/shaft is running in the clutch bell and is supported on the bearings. Since those bearings are in the same bearing block that supports the bell pinion, if you tilt the bell, you tilt the clutch and vice versa. Optimum build technique for any drivetrain is never represented by tilting or canting an assembly to compensate misalignment elsewhere.

The gentleman who used the techniques that I suggested, Mike Goza, is a long time MA team pilot and FAI pilot who has a massive amount of experience with the gas model. Adjusting the holes as needed and then installing the bolts is adequate to fixture the engine. Due to the moment arm in play from the mounting holes on either side of the frames up to the level of the clutch, it generally takes very little material removal to accomplish the task of alignment. The rear mounting plate will additionally hold the engine from attempting to shift fore or aft unless the frame holes are way oversized. I'm not sure why you are having aligment issues. My gas model lined up without incident. That said, I have two identical Furys which each needed their own particular amount of motor mount shimming to create perfect alignment.

Should you choose to investigate other options for your problem, I'd suggest you call MA and see what they have to say. I don't know of any other obvious solution to your problem.

Ben Minor

Hi Ben,

Thanks for the additional in formation. I gan get things to line up, but then there seems to be way to much slop in the gear mesh. My experience has always been that there should only be the thickness of a piece of paper between the gears to get proper gear mesh.

If I get the clutch and engine to line up then there is about a 3-4 degree of slop in the gear mesh.

Is this acceptable?

Right now I get about 1 degree, however the clutch and engine are not square.

Optimum gear mesh is obtained by setting the lash with a thin piece of paper (I use weekely magazine newsprint) on the LOW (NOT high) spot on the gear. This will create a slight bind in the high spot, which quickly runs in after a few flights. Running the lash with sig more lash than this results in premature gear wear. In the worst case and with high torque/tall gearing situations like are present in the gas or four stroke models, you can cause the outside of the mainsgear to strip if the lash is too loose.

Ben Minor